Reboot 2003

Chapter 176 084: Trademark Dispute (Triple in One)

Entering the meeting room, both sides sat down.

The complainant is two people from Facebook, and the lawyer is Tom Sticker, who works for Warner but also has some reputation in the industry.

The respondent came to respond to the lawsuit. Xu Tao, the CEO of Meijian Santiago, seemed to be very eloquent, but the Chinese lawyer he brought seemed to be unable to speak English, which cast a cloud over the arbitration from the very beginning. It looks a little ridiculous.

ICANN officials would not care so much, he straightened his glasses.

"Let's get started, then."

"The complainant...theFacebook's webmaster, Mark Zuckerberg, you believe that the domain name held by the complainant - Facebook.com, the domain name infringes the trademark rights of your website."

Zuckerberg wanted to respond, Sean Parker elbowed him on the arm, Tom Sticker replied with a smile: "Yes, this domain name is the same as my agent's trademark, after my agent has When building a website, using it to blackmail and infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of the brand, according to the "Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy Implementation Rules" and the UDRP interpretation document last year, I think..."

"Please be quiet." The official of the Arbitration Bureau said, "Our intellectual property agency under WIPO is not a court. We have our own way of handling affairs."

The air became quiet, and the official of the Arbitration Bureau said: "Everyone should have read the trial process in the notice, so let's start with the first topic. Please exchange evidence and start the defense from the complained party."

There are three elements in domain name arbitration, all of which must be met before the case can be awarded. The official of the Arbitration Bureau picked up the document in his hand and asked the respondent: "The defendant believes that your domain name violates the ownership of the 'TheFacebook' trademark. true?"

Lawyers who don't understand English can't say anything. Xu Tao himself replied: "This is not true. The registration date of the domain name 'Facebook.com' is 1997, and their TheFacebook was only registered in February this year. I don’t think our domain name violated their trademark rights, but their website is deliberate fraud.”

The official of the Arbitration Bureau took a look at the document: "It is true that theFacebook was established much later than the domain name registration date..."

Tom Sticker stood up: "That's not the case, please see!"

As he spoke, he handed over a document to others: "According to the information we collected through the domain name dealer's public information, although this domain name was registered in 1997, a transaction was made in June this year, that is to say, although The registration date was earlier, but the San Diego company bought the domain name after TheFacebook was founded."

"That is to say, compared with the time when the respondent owns the domain name, we own the Facebook trademark earlier!"

As expected of an elite barrister, Tom Sticker easily caught this flaw—the evidence that Facebook changed its registrant in June this year fell into his hands. Litigation documents.

Tom Sticker won the next game, with a slight smile on his lips, the arbitrator adjusted his glasses, and started the next topic...

"Okay, then go to the second step. The complainant believes that the respondent has no legal rights to the disputed domain name. Please exchange evidence and make a defense."

Xu Tao then said, "We have something to say about this."

He said: "There are many facebooks in this world. Both face and book are words that are easy to see in daily life. Their website can be called Facebook, and other websites can also be called Facebook, not to mention their 'theFacebook' this year. Only established in February, their logo is not a very well-known one…”

"No!"

Tom Sticker, who stood up just now, was still standing. He was like an upright brown bear, interrupting Xu Tao's argument unreasonably.

"Although TheFacebook was just established in February, it is a well-known website. It not only has more than 2 million users, but also has a large number of users in other countries." Tom Sticker took out a large number of documents like a conjuring, "This is what I passed through the first The objective data collected by the three-party statistical agency, as well as the information on Facebook’s trademark registration in other countries.”

"besides……"

"The Facebook team's website is old, but the 'Facebook' logo was before that!"

He talked eloquently: "As early as 1999, Facebook had registered trademarks in Malta and Uruguay. This is its trademark registration certificate! Although these trademarks are different from Facebook, they are now the legitimate property of our Facebook company! "

"There is no doubt that our Facebook should be a trademark with worldwide influence, and the respondent obtained the Facebook domain name through a transaction in June this year, which is a malicious violation of our company's great trademark!"

The Arbitration Bureau official looked at the documents provided by Tom Sticker and pondered. Xu Tao frowned as he looked at the documents. Even Zuckerberg and Sean Parker could not bear to hear the unheard-of large scale and long history of their company. I couldn't help whispering...

However, after a while, the officials of the Arbitration Bureau still did not pick out the fault.

Although Xu Tao felt that this document was nonsense, he was at a loss for what to do for a while. He could only argue: "Even so, your trademark has not appeared in the Internet field for a long time, not to mention that Facebook should be a common phrase..."

Tom Sticker was confident: "So what?"

"Facebook's two words are certainly common words, but it is undoubtedly a made-up word itself!"

"Face and book do not have any logical connection, so there should be a stable correspondence between it and the Facebook trademark!"

"In contrast to the respondent, you do not have any trademarks related to Facebook, so there is no doubt that the respondent has no legal rights to the disputed domain name!"

Several staff members next to him started discussing, and Xu Tao did not come up with any arguments to refute him in the end. Tom Sticker, who was flaunting his might, looked down, in stark contrast to the dazed Chinese lawyer beside Xu Tao...

Although Xu Tao himself still didn't seem nervous, and was still taking out his mobile phone to send text messages to people, but he must be just trying to hold on!

Tom Sticker glanced at the two unused key pieces of evidence in his folder, and showed a triumphant smile, and the next step was the crucial third step——

"Okay, let's move on to the third topic." The official of the Arbitration Bureau said: "The complainant believes that the complained party has used the domain name maliciously. Please start exchanging evidence and responding."

This is already the last step. If this step fails, the arbitration will declare the complainant victorious in court, and then the domain name will be directly awarded to TheFacebook without paying a dime...

Xu Tao still started to defend normally: "We didn't try to sell this domain name in any way, nor did we maliciously raise its value. I don't know why you think our behavior of using this domain name is malicious..."

And Tom Sticker had already prepared his answer: "Then Mr. Xu, in case you don't know, I need to remind you that in our Meilijian, no one will stop domain name transactions that respect market order!"

But the voice changed again: "But!"

"You shouldn't use it for blackmail! You forced Facebook to accept your hostile takeover, that's your evil purpose!"

"Sean, show me the evidence!"

Sean Parker hesitated to produce evidence, which was a tape recorder.

After pressing play, the recorder played a negotiation recording, which was the voice of an Asian man threatening two entrepreneurial young men with a low voice full of coercion and a little electronic sound.

Because it sounded really scary, even the arbitrator couldn't help frowning.

Tom Sticker said: "This is our evidence! These days...these evil investors are using domain names to force an unfair investment transaction, which undoubtedly violates the specific rules of the "Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy Implementation Rules"... ..."

Of course, this alone can't convince the arbitrator, but Tom Sticker knows it well——

"In addition to this!"

He took out a photo, which was taken across the street, showing Xu Tao talking to Sean Parker: "This photo was taken in May this year, and it is enough to prove that our complainant—Xu Tao, He communicated with Sean Parker at the beginning of this year, which means that the respondent obviously had personal contact with members of TheFacebook before buying this domain name!"

In the judgment of intellectual property rights, whether the two parties have no intersection is an important evidence. The arbitration official asked: "Is what the respondent and the complaint said true? Is this photo true?"

The air seemed to freeze at this moment, and Xu Tao replied in a deep voice: "I have guided them, this photo is real."

"That's right..."

Sean Parker was still a little guilty, and Zuckerberg stood up excitedly: "He guided us at that time, it must have been at that time..."

"Okay." Tom Stick patted the impatient principal beside him, signaling him not to get excited, "In this case, there is no doubt about this complaint. Finally...according to the UDRP last year To explain the document, I request the agency to immediately transfer the frozen domain name to my principal, as a startup company, they have been delayed for too long..."

"and many more."

Tom Sticker had already issued his declaration of victory, but the penalty was obviously not over yet, and the referee took the initiative to stop him.

The arbitration official asked him: "There is one last question, the complainant...you have not fully proved that the respondent has indeed used the domain name maliciously."

"This question... By the way, I have collected evidence." The first time he participated in a domain name dispute, barrister Tom Sticker almost forgot this step.

However, he had collected enough evidence in advance, so he took out the last document, "This is a photo of the domain name agency transaction we took. Listed $30 above market price and of course now the page is gone..."

Of course, this is also a fake photo, but Tom Stick forged the login transaction page of this domain name and combined these real and fake clues, even if the opponent wanted to refute it, there was no chance... and his opponent really changed his face, Just as futilely as before, he argued: "This is a distortion of the facts, we have never used this domain name for sale!"

"So do you have proof? Now we have proof that you are not using this domain name properly at all...and are only using it for blackmail!"

"I have evidence." Xu Tao said, and finally patted the arm of the 'lawyer from the Celestial Dynasty' beside him.

The young man who had been wandering around couldn't understand what these people were talking about. After being reminded by him, he woke up like a dream, took out a few documents from the folder and handed them to the arbitration officer.

Tom Sticker sneered, at this point in the matter, it is impossible to turn over the disk with such evidence alone... According to the cases he has studied, 'malicious use of domain names' is not an accusation that can be avoided by simply building a website. The owner of the domain name puts "this domain name is for sale" on the homepage, which is of course malicious use, and "this site is being established" certainly cannot remove the suspicion. Even if the complainant has a clear trademark advantage, even if it is a simple website with relevant content , or even operating any legitimate website that competes with the trademark owner is considered 'malicious use'.

However, the arbitrator took the document and looked at it carefully.

Xu Tao explained to him: "My country has some special regulations in the cultural field. After we obtained the domain name, we didn't actually use it for trading, but used it for public welfare projects."

Tom Sticker certainly doesn't eat this set: "Then why can't we access it?"

Xu Tao explained calmly: "Because this is a public welfare project of the Celestial Dynasty, we have blocked all foreign visitor IPs."

Tom Stick leaned on the table with both hands, and asked like a cannonball: "In this case, why didn't you show this website earlier? What's more, I didn't get its information from search engines at all, which means that its popularity is not comparable to our TheFacebook How do you answer the question that it's not trademarked at all?"

This time it was the arbitrator who answered his question: "Because this is a public welfare project, please take a look."

Speaking of pushing the document to Tom Sticker, the barrister picked up the document and looked at it carefully for a long time. There was a printout of a website printed on the paper, and he saw a lot of dense Chinese, as well as round masks and red and purple masks. color matching.

And Xu Tao took the opportunity to explain to them: "This website has been in preparation since we bought the domain name Facebook.com this year. We have registered this website with the local Internet agency, and the corresponding documents have been brought over. It is enough to show that we have not done anything to sell this domain name..."

Stick still didn't believe it: "No, this is nonsense, you haven't registered any trademark at all..."

"We do not have trademarks, but cultural content itself does not have trademarks."

Xu Tao explained solemnly——

"However, our national culture has the drama style of 'changing faces'. Whether it is 'Beijing Opera' or 'Sichuan Opera', there are a lot of facial makeup content. Each facial makeup represents a different meaning, and the purpose of this public welfare website is to collect Various meanings of 'Facebook'."

"And 'Facebook' is certainly the correct translation for Facebook."

"It is impossible to have a trademark, but it should have existed for more than 300 years. You only rely on the ownership of the trademark to say that 'Facebook' was created by yourself, which is undoubtedly unfounded and harsh."

Stick was a little confused: "This is impossible, I have never heard of 'Facebook', this is an unreasonable sophistry!"

ICANN's arbitration officer was also a little confused: "I haven't heard of it either. If I knew it in advance, I should have invited an expert who studies folk culture..."

"It's easy, I'm ready."

Xu Tao patted the shoulder of the young man in a suit beside him.

"Xiao Wang, go and sing a section for everyone!"

"okay!"

The lawyer who had been waiting by the side, sitting like a pillar, and who didn't understand English at all responded.

He does seem like an outsider, but he seems to be waiting for this moment.

After being asked by Lao Xu, he took off his suit to reveal the red vest inside, took out the allegro red fan heirloom, walked to the open space in the middle of the conference table, and performed a "drunk beating the mountain gate" for everyone.

Suddenly, his face turned red, and the arbitrator clapped his hands as if he had just woken up from a dream.

With a sudden change of face, Stick picked up the paper on the table and threw it over in fright.

With a sudden change of blue face, Lao Xu couldn't help laughing...

With a sudden change of face, Zuckerberg sat in his seat, his eyes lost focus.

The on-site recording staff looked at each other in blank dismay. They probably have never experienced such a domain name lawsuit. According to the principle of publicity, this arbitration will be published by them in the dispute records of ICANN. Of course, there is no suspense about the outcome of the lawsuit.

But here comes the question, how should they write this report?

Half an hour later, the arbitration was over.

Stick suffered a big loss. Not only was the expert panel dismissed the complaint and ruled that the respondent should retain the disputed domain name, but it was also judged that the complainant constituted a reverse domain name hijacking.

Losing money is a trivial matter, but embarrassing is a major matter, and Stick will also be fined for throwing papers on the conference table.

When he came out, his face was dull, he just gave the two heavenly people a hard look, and pulled Zuckerberg and Sean Parker to leave, but the two guys didn't leave with him.

"Sorry." Zuckerberg shook his head at him, and Stick immediately understood what they meant, and sneered, "Okay, kind!"

Then he ran away with his tail between his legs.

Mark Zuckerberg drooped his head, and whispered a few words with Sean Parker. In any case, they didn't want to simply sell the company—although that Chen Aotian was arrogant, he didn't underestimate their potential, but Time Warner Different, they just want to be a simple platform to sell music, and even just want to use Facebook as a bargaining chip against San Diego.

They also didn't want to be acquired by these people from the beginning, they just wanted to use Warner to deal with San Diego, but Warner doesn't seem to be San Diego's opponent, so what should they do next?

Thinking of the mess in the company again, maybe the idea of ​​selling the company to Warner just now flashed away.

Fortunately, the kind 'Old Xu' came out.

When he saw the two young men, he didn't look angry or angry, but just smiled and said, "I knew you would stay. The concession strategy I told you before is still valid. We in San Diego sincerely want to cooperate with you."

Zuckerberg said with a bitter face: "So I really don't understand Silicon Valley. I heard that they can help us award the domain name to me, and I also..."

"Don't worry, the domain name can still be given to you for free."

Old Xu smiled, seeing the two young people showing gratified smiles, he changed the topic: "But there is a condition..."

Zuckerberg became nervous: "The shareholding ratio can be discussed again, and we are willing to accept investment from San Diego."

Old Xu smiled and said: "Don't get me wrong, the conditions should be as agreed not long ago, we are not a malicious acquirer, you don't have to worry, we can even write this in the investment contract."

But he added: "It's just that you have seen that Facebook is now a public welfare website."

"If you want to merge in the future, you must keep a link to this website on your Facebook homepage. This is the condition we added after this lawsuit... Similarly, we also hope to write this into the investment contract."

Sean Parker scratched his head. If it was just like this, then it would be fine. Zuckerberg finally showed a dazed look like the rest of his life after hearing this... If it was just like this, there is really nothing wrong with it, and It seems to be a very favorable condition for them. Compared with a hostile takeover, just hanging a link to some Chinese folk culture project on an inconspicuous position on their homepage is really not a big deal.

Suddenly the phone rang, and Zuckerberg looked at the name and said sorry.

Then his face changed when he heard it... "Eduardo...he froze the company's account."

Sean Parker frowned after hearing this, but looked suspiciously at Lao Xu who was smiling and looking at them, Lao Xu nodded: "You guys are busy, we can talk about the financing tomorrow, of course, if you need funds, you can contact us at any time." you can look for me."

"All right……"

The two young men hurriedly went to discuss the company's problems. Watching them walk away, Xiao Wang beside Lao Xu couldn't help laughing. Lao Xu patted him to let him pay attention to the influence, and lowered his head Ready to send an email back.

However, at this moment, another person came up from behind. Old Xu thought it was a reporter, but turned out to be an investor. He handed over his business card, shook hands with Old Xu, and said that his name was Peter Thiel. He was very happy. Know you……

Such people are everywhere in Silicon Valley, and Old Xu didn't care, but Peter Thiel smiled and said to him: "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm Sean's friend, you are very good this time, mind chatting ?"

"about what?"

"On the Future of the Internet."

Old Xu perfunctory: "Oh, well, what's your opinion?"

Peter Thiel is enthusiastic: "I always thought the future of the internet was right under our feet...Silicon Valley, do you understand it?"

Old Xu replied: "I have heard a little bit that it is now the center of the Internet in the world."

"Yes, but it wasn't in the past. In the past, the center of the Internet world was Highway 128, where there were Harvard and MIT, and there were a large number of orders provided by the federal government, and this place was just for Stanford University to take advantage of the Stanford couple's will. It is a technology diffusion place created by renting out school real estate for reasonable profit and by mistake."

Old Xu smiled and said, "So you venture capitalists defeated the federal government."

Peter Thiel said: "Every moment in the business world will not repeat itself. Sooner or later we will be left behind by it, but I see that you seem to be moving forward than me."

"you flatter me."

"Can you tell me where you are from? I heard that your China has a similar place. Are you from China's information highway, or China's Silicon Valley?"

Where is it?

For a while, Lao Xu didn't know how to answer, looking at the lights in the Bay Area under the night, he pondered.

If one thinks of today's accident from June this year, everything today is a natural result.

Not only was he not worried from the very beginning that the domain name would be complained about in turn, but if it was properly arranged, it would not be impossible to complete the hostile takeover through the alliance of other small and medium shareholders and the domain name as a threat.

But why not?Is it because that person is actually very optimistic about these two young people?At the beginning, he purposely acted as if he wasn't very interested, but he should still be pretending.

Lao Xu exhaled slowly, and the cold wind from the Pacific Ocean was blowing slowly. Tomorrow will be 2005, so I should be able to go home for the Spring Festival.

"I don't know," Lao Xu smiled at him, took out his phone and started texting, but then he added thoughtfully, "But if you ask where we come from, maybe we're just from the Internet itself Bar."

(End of this chapter)